Starting a hunter
Introduction So, you think you have what it takes to become a Hunter, do you? Well, then this page is intended to help you become a good one. We've tried to provide a generic plan anyone can follow for the first 10 levels or so, just to get you started on the right foot. If you're looking for more of an overview of the class' abilities, see the main Hunter page. For more advanced topics, see Hunter Tactics. For a more general overview on starting out playing WoW, see the Newbie Guide Race Selection If you're a power-player, you'll want to consider the various Racial Traits when choosing what race to play. You might also consider the racial Attributes. The most important thing to consider is what playstyle you are after. On the Horde Trolls are a great choice for a PvE Hunter. 20% regeneration and Beastslaying give them a great bonus while grinding, while Bow skill and Beserking are a great way to boost raiding DPS. Tauren's Warstomp is a useful way to get out of melee range in PvP and similarly an Orc's stun resist can be useful against rogues. Orcs get a 5% damage bonus for pets which can be nice for grinding, and in PvP for Beastmastery Hunters. Alliance only have 2 choices and Dwarves are largely a better PvE choice with +5 guns, but Stoneform can also be useful in PvP against Rogues and Warriors. Most Alliance choose Night Elves for the legendary Shadowmeld and Prowl combination. Although Shadowmeld now breaks at the beginning of spell casts, it is still considered a massive asset with Aimed Shot, being able to come out of stealth to unload massive damage with a stealthed pet by your side. Early Leveling The easiest way to progress through the early levels is to simply do any and all of the quests you can find. Not only will you breeze through the first 5 to 10 levels, but you'll get useful gear and precious money. Money is particulary important so you can purchase your skills, spells and/or abilities as appropriate for one's class. Obviously money is also important for purchasing personal items such a potions, jewelry, food, armor, weapons, etc. You should spend levels 1 - 5 near your starting town. Most everything needed at these early levels can be obtained there from one or the other vendor. Likewise, any inventory loot you've gathered hunting can be sold to these same vendors. Also, this is where you're going to begin questing and figure out the most efficient ways to go about this most important of tasks. Make sure you get all the abilities and spells you can from your trainer. Between level 5 and 6 you'll find yourself heading off to your second town and a new trainer who can teach you upgraded versions of your skills and abilities. At the second town, repeat the process - do each and every quest you can find. It's important to keep up with your abilities and your gear. Now is also an appropriate time to start training in your chosen professions. Notable Early Quests The following lists are not intended to be comprehensive, but cover a selection of the best quests in the starting areas from levels 1 to 10. Dwarves * Quest 1 * etc Night Elves * Quest 1 Orcs & Trolls * Quest 1 Tauren * Quest 1 On Soloing and Grouping Soloing Soloing is both a science and an art that each Hunter will have to develop in their own way. I will give a few pointers here that work for me, but the way I hunt is only one of many, many ways for a Hunter to go apply their vocation. You will find that there are as many thoughts on being a good Hunter as there are Hunters. The primary thing a Hunter must learn is that our role is not that of a melee specialist. We are lousy at melee, even when specced heavily in Survival Hunter Talents. If melee is really what you're after, best choose a Warrior type so you can go mano a mano with all comers. Personally, I am a methodical Hunter. By that I mean that I don't get in a rush while hunting and I try to be as alert as possible to the area of operations I find myself in at any given moment; in the military we referred to this state of alertness as situational awareness. I stop every so often and flip through various camera settings to examine things from all angles (I have both sides and a rear view key bound for easy reference). Terrain looks totally different from the opposite direction if one needs to escape a fight gone bad and beat a hasty retreat. In addition, I alternate tracking modes frequently. This allows me positive situational awareness of terrain, beasts, and humanoid mobs in the immediate vicinity. In addition to the proper tracking being active, always set your traps. I almost always watch my target for a minute to get an idea of their route and then drop a immolation trap in the path. When they hit it, nail them with concussive shot and serpent sting. Send your pet before you shoot and then switch over to scorpid sting to protect your pet. Overcast7 Lastly, I try always to have a pre-plotted escape route that is relatively free of aggro. I am one of those Hunters who feels it is better to run away and live to fight another day than it is to go toe-to-toe with a mob one knows he has no chance of besting. Plus, one never knows when, during the course of any given fight, a mob might suddenly spawn nearby and become an add. Trust me, just plan on having an escape route and you'll stay alive much longer... ;) -- Arath Once you reach higher levels if you start getting beaten down don't forget about disengage, feign death and your frost traps, i.e., you're losing and getting close to dying - either disengage or FD, drop a frost trap, turn on Aspect of the Cheetah/Pack and then bolt. Alternatively you can place a cold trap behind you that you can pull the mob over to slow them while you run away. Overcast7 See also: Hunter Tactics Grouping The Hunter's goal is to stay away from the mob and shoot at it from range. When you team up with other players this becomes more difficult. When the mob decides to attack other party members it will get within your minimum range if you're standing next to the rest of the party. For that reason, it's best to stay away from other party members during combat. That way, if the mob attacks them or rushes toward them, you can still continue to fire at range. Also, let party members know that they should never run toward you because that will also bring the mob within your minimiun range. Make it clear to other group members that you're going to be slightly away from them during combat to maintain effective maximum range. Another thing to watch out for is other party members pulling the mob. Often it's best to use the Hunter or the Hunter's pet to pull. For more in-depth information, see: Hunter Tactics Useful Professions The Hunter can benefit directly and indirectly from many of the professions available. Primary Professions For my take on things, the most useful Professions for a Hunter are Engineering or Leatherworking. Certainly one may pursue any of the other professions available. These two, however, benefit the Hunter most in my opionion. * Mining and Engineering : Engineering requires supplies gathered by a miner. So, it just makes sense for a Hunter who wishes to go into Engineering to also take up Mining. Engineering allows Hunters to make their own shot, bombs, scopes, rifles, etc. * Skinning and Leatherworking : Skinning allows one to obtain the raw materials needed to pursue the Leatherworking Profession. This allows a Hunter to make the leather armor a Hunter wears until at least level 40, when Hunters become elgible to train in wearing Mail Armor. Depending on which leatherworking route you take, you can create dragonscale armour as a Leatherworker, which is Mail armour, so even after level 40 leatherworking is a viable profession. * Herbalism and Alchemy : Herbs are required for Alchemy, so as with the above professions, it makes sense to be both. Herbalism can also be a decent scource of income while still at lower levels. I would say until levels 10~15, depending on how dedicated you are. The more you use this skill, the "better" or more rare the herbs are that you can aquire. : Alchemy I find is a great way to help buff your abilites, and suppliment your armor. There are many great potions that can be made, some that buff your ability stats, regeneration rates, and armor. As most hunters know, we are not the best at melee, and when caught in a bind (i.e. moving back into another mob while trying to move out of the "dead zone" of your ranged attack), you can use any extra help you can get. Potions also sell quite well at Auction Houses. -Herbalism and Alchemy added by VengefulTick So, if one does as I did, and creates a gun-toting Hunter (Dorf) for fighting and a bow weilding Hunter (NE) for playing around with and making armor, we get the best of both of those worlds, so to speak. Start your profession early! It's usually not too expensive, and you want to ensure that anything you create with your skills is applicable to your Hunter's level. Secondary Professions * Cooking : This profession allows the Hunter to cook nourishing food for both himself and his pet. The effects of eating cooked food over that looted from mobs is quite obvious for the Hunter himself, however cooking for a pet is only helpful if cooking the food serves to raise its level, hence increasing the pet's happiness more when fed to it. * Fishing : Some pets will only eat fish and some will eat fish in addition to other dietary supplements. I generally fish more for the potential to reel in loot of various kinds as much as for the actual fish. Although the extra fish comes in handy depending upon the current pet, try fishing for loot sometime. It requires much patience, but has paid off with a couple of pretty decent items so far. * First Aid : Every class can really use First Aid. You cannot apply First Aid whilst being hit, but you can apply it to yourself while your pet is engaged. This is also great fixer-upper after combat and in conjunction with potions or foodstuffs, can really make a difference in healing and regeneration of mana and so forth. First Aid can also be used on your pet after combat when you are low on mana but still in a dangerous area. :: One thing that makes First Aid not really as useful as one might think (as of patch 1.2.1), is that not only does damage to you break the channeling, but also damage to the person/pet you are performing First Aid on. This reduces its use to a downtime-saver, which eating good food is much better at doing. --Orangefoodie 03:05, 6 Feb 2005 (EST) Long-Term Goals Hunters are very pet and gear-dependant. Try to ensure your pet is always healed, fed and happy before putting yourselves in harm's way. Also, always use the best armor and weapons available for your level (and budget!) - use ThottBot to search for weapons/armour that you might want to aspire to. Once found, either locate the mob(s) that drop the item, or find one at one of the auction houses that you can afford and meet level requirements. If you have an option between upgrading your bow, or upgrading your melee weapon, always take your bow. It's the one you should be using far more often. When choosing between similar armor, the ranged hunter should always favor Agility and Stamina bonuses over Strength or Intellect. This is because the former stats are more effective for the hunter than the latter. At level 40 the ability to wear Mail armor can be purchased but it is not wise to dump all of your nice Leather armor with high Agility bonus simply for the extra armor. Make sure you keep your armour and weapons repaired at all times, as you'll be taking a lot of hits, regardless that Hunters really aren't melee characters. The better equipment you possess, and the better repair you keep it in, the better the chances you walk away from a given fight alive! Decide where you want to go with your Hunter Talents, as these can make a big difference. Do you want to be more defensive or offensive orientated for example? You can basically spec a Hunter heavily in one line, mediocre in another, and barely any points at all in the third. Obviously one can split training points as one desires. Personally I am going for maximum Marksmanship, secondary Beast Mastery, and third I will put whatever points are left over into Survival. See Hunter Tactics for more advanced information on Hunters, taking you beyond the first 10 levels. Authors : Originally started by -- Arath . Hopefully someone else will help fill in some of the blank spots, otherwise I will edit as I get in game and mature my Hunter See Also * Hunter * Hunter Abilities * Hunter Talents http://wowvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Talents.View * Hunter Tactics ---- Hunter,Starting Hunter,Starting